One day, they’re there. The next, they’re gone. And there’s no explanation offered. Media layoffs and format changes, just happen.
That’s how the radio industry does things, and television, and most media. Hosts get fired (best of luck to the iHeartMedia employees laid off last week) and it’s treated on the air like they’ve never been there. Stations change format and either it’s an abrupt change without notice or it’s a lame stunt – hey, let’s just play the same song over and over for the weekend to “flush away” the old audience – or there are promos directing fans of the old format to an HD2 channel or online stream they’ll never visit.
It’s disrespectful. It’s disrespectful to those who got let go, and, critically, to the audience, which deserves at least some notice and explanation. Sure, when a format changes, it indicates that there weren’t enough listeners to support the old format, but those listeners were radio loyalists at a time when radio needs every listener it can get. In the olden days when there were no other options, those listeners would go find another station. Today, they’re just as likely to bolt from radio altogether and fire up Spotify or Apple Music.
The same goes for TV news. Anchors and reporters build trust with the audience over the years. Suddenly, the trusted are gone, and there’s a new person reporting. In fairness, local TV stations do often let viewers know about personnel changes and allow the anchors and reporters to say goodbye on the air. (Radio doesn’t like that, because management has never trusted laid-off hosts to have one last show, lest they say something untoward or unprofessional, like “this is my last show here, thanks for listening.”)
One of the things that went away with consolidation and private equity investment is that there isn’t time to just let formats and hosts and shows have time to build a loyal audience. Management talks a good game about wanting to increase engagement and loyalty, but if ratings and revenue aren’t growing (fast), changes get made, heads roll, you know the drill. On one hand, it’s understandable: if the money’s not there, voice tracking becomes attractive and AI becomes a manager’s dream – no salary, no benefits, no vacation days, just a reliable personality-free “personality” to fill the schedule. Talk radio may not be the ideal fit for AI, but you know someone’s going to try it. But on the other hand, unexplained changes turn off one audience at the same time they may be exciting for incoming listeners.
Audiences generally don’t read media trade sites, as much as we at those sites would like it if they did. They don’t know why their favorite host disappeared, their favorite Alternative station is suddenly a sports talk station, the morning TV news hosts have changed. Would it hurt anyone to let them know?
Count me as one who’d like to see radio and TV stations take that risk and let departing hosts do “last shows.” Yes, it might be dangerous, but, hey, if the fired jock goes ahead and plays the same song over and over, or trashes management, or goes way off format, it’ll at least get attention. People will talk about it. It won’t really matter in the long run (unless they do something to endanger the license, but that’s what dump buttons and security guards are for). And you might get another outrageous “radio story” you can tell at reunions and conventions, if, that is, there are still such things in the future.
Oh, yeah, good luck to those finding themselves laid off, let go, fired, newly at leisure, forcibly retired, on the beach. It might be tough finding another media job, but it’s not impossible. And if you can’t land a media job, there’s life after radio and TV. You might even like it more.
Perry Michael Simon is a weekly news media columnist for Barrett Media. He previously served as VP and Editor/News-Talk-Sports/Podcast for AllAccess.com. Prior to joining the industry trade publication, Perry spent years in radio working as a Program Director and Operations Manager for KLSX and KLYY in Los Angeles and New Jersey 101.5 in Trenton. He can be found on X (formerly Twitter) @PMSimon.
